by AlfredocloseAuthor: AlfredoName: Alfredo LópezEmail: fredolopez@rocketmail.comSite:About: I'm an editor, geek and health aficionado. I also love playing music and trying new foods from across the globe!See Authors Posts (234) on April 15, 2013 at 02:37 PM EST

HarmoKnight is a rhythm/platformer video game and is Game Freak’s latest non-Pokemon project since Drill Dozer. In HarmoKnight, you mainly play as a boy named Tempo, Tempo sets out to Symphony City to find a potential HarmoKnight after Noizoids have crashed down on Melodia and brought disturbance. Upon getting to Symphony City, the evil Gargan kidnaps princess Aralia and the real journey begins.

Along your journey you meet knew friends, all which are playable characters. Among the characters you come across are an archer named Lyra and Tyko who’s accompanied by his monkey, Cymbi. Each of the characters has their unique skills that help get across each level. Tempo can jump and hit with his staff note, Lyra shoots her arrows and dodges attacks and the Tyko hits enemies from below while Cymbi rides on Tyko’s shoulders and hits enemies above.

The controls are very simple B and A are the two main buttons you’ll need throughout the game, with the exception of the pad that’s rarely used. Although you can play as Lyra and Tyko/Cymbi, you don’t get to choose when you use them, they automatically switch off with Tempo during certain points in a stage.

Although you’re mainly using two buttons throughout the entirety of the game, the game still manages to be fun and slightly challenging because of the change in tempo from the music. As fun as the game may be at first, it later becomes too repetitive because there is absolutely no change of mechanics whatsoever-and no, those dancing levels with Octarina don’t make the cut, they were kind of pointless.

The music you play along to is fun and upbeat, but because listening to the music is such a key element when playing this game, it’s hard to play in a noisy area-so you’d better keep a pair of headphones handy just in case you might need them! The artwork was cool, not surprisingly the characters all looked like something pulled out of a Pokemon game. I love how they worked with the 3D mode, they had a well balance of what came out of the screen and what didn’t.

HarmoKnight has very few features, there is no online leader-board or even local co-op. This game has absolutely no replay value, the bonus levels are short and you could easily finish them under 10-15 minutes. Speaking of the bonus levels, I love the homage they played for Pokemon, it was pretty cool of Game Freak to do that.

Pros:

Easy to play for players of all skill

The music is enjoyable

Great use of the 3D feature

Cons:

Story is too short

No replay value

No leader-boards

Final Thoughts:

Ultimately HarmoKnight is a fun game and I had fun playing the game throughout its entirety, it almost felt like I was playing an instrument or some sort of loop-pedal because I had to hit certain notes based on the music that was playing in the background. The problem was that the the story was too short and had no replay value, for a game priced at $15 I would expect to have content that would last me more than a week. I can see this game highly enjoyable for anyone, from the casual gamer to your hardcore gamer. If you’re into rhythm video games than you will definitely enjoy this game. Taking everything about this game into consideration, I give HarmoKnight a seven out of ten.